Pubdate: Fri, 04 Apr 2003
Source: Dallas Morning News (TX)
Copyright: 2003 The Dallas Morning News
Contact:  http://www.dallasnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/117
Author: Kim Breen, The Dallas Morning News
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

CELINA SCHOOLS TO START DRUG-TESTING ATHLETES

District Will Be One Of A Few In The Area To Administer Checks

Coach Bill Elliott has been known to cruise Celina on weekend nights, 
searching for field parties and high school athletes who might be straying 
from the rules.

Few go unnoticed. "This is a small town, a small community," said Mr. 
Elliott, who oversees boys' athletics at Celina High School.

The athletic code prohibits profanity and sets a midnight curfew. Boys 
can't wear earrings. Their hair must be short. All athletes must get good 
grades. And starting in the fall, all athletes in grades seven through 12 
will be required to get tested for drugs.

"We felt like we wanted to take a stand against drugs," said school 
district athletic director Butch Ford, whose department has kicked around 
the idea of mandatory drug testing for years. The Celina school board 
approved the plan at its last meeting in March.

Celina will become one of a few school districts in the Dallas area that 
drug-test students enrolled in sports.

Several area districts, including Plano, McKinney, Irving, Garland, 
Coppell, Carrollton-Farmers Branch, Richardson and Arlington, don't 
administer random or mandatory drug tests. A few do, including Mesquite and 
Rockwall. While Celina's policy will start with students who compete in 
athletics, the measure might be expanded to students involved in all 
extracurricular activities, said school board president Keith Scott. 
"Celina is doing all we can to hold on to the old, traditional values of 
small town - church, school, community and so forth," Mr. Scott said. 
"We're doing all we can to keep our hands around that."

Coaches said the greatest benefit will be that students will have an excuse 
to say no to drugs. They can blame the test.

Even though Celina might be a small town, it's getting bigger. Influences 
of not-so-small towns are creeping in, Mr. Ford said.

While all communities have their share of drug problems, students in Celina 
are exposed to more these days, Mr. Elliott said. "We're getting a lot of 
kids moving in from Plano, Frisco," he said.

Mr. Scott said no incident led to the decision. "There's a difference 
between a concern and a problem," he said. "It's not being implemented 
because there's some secret problem. It's being implemented because drugs 
are so prevalent now."

Supreme Court The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that drug testing for 
students who take part in athletics is constitutional. In June, it extended 
that ruling to include students in extracurricular activities.

Celina athletes will be tested at the beginning of the school year. In the 
months that follow, 10 percent will be selected randomly to be tested 
again. The district will pay Ron Bolton, who owns Ron's 24-hour Mobile Drug 
and Alcohol Testing, $15 for each test.

Mr. Ford estimated the cost next year to be about $10,000. Students who are 
found to be on drugs will go through drug education, and those who are 
repeat offenders face suspension from participation in extracurricular 
activities.

Mr. Bolton, who has been in the business of administering drug tests since 
1996, said he works with about a dozen school districts in Collin, Grayson 
and Hunt counties, including Princeton, Farmersville, Van Alstyne, Tom 
Bean, Bland and Blue Ridge. He doesn't advertise and picks up much of his 
business with schools through word-of-mouth, which is how Mr. Ford found 
him. No records Eddie Joseph, executive director of the Texas High School 
Coaches' Association, said no one keeps track of which districts drug-test 
students. He said school boards often adopt the policy then discontinue it 
when few students are found to be on drugs.

"I think the biggest problem we have in athletics are steroids more than 
recreational drugs," he said. "I think you can test athletes all you want, 
but I think they're probably less susceptible to be using drugs" than the 
average student.

Mr. Bolton said most schools do not elect to regularly test for steroids 
but instead test for 10 recreational drugs including cocaine and marijuana. 
The steroid test is more expensive. Mr. Ford said recreational drug use was 
the reason for testing in Celina.

The Supreme Court ruling sparked controversy throughout the country, 
especially among privacy advocates. In Celina, where sports - especially 
football - are key, no one has spoken against the decision, said Mr. Scott, 
the school board president.

"I think they'll strongly support it because I think it serves as a tool to 
retain traditional values," he said.

Student support Several student athletes in Celina said they support the 
decision. "It doesn't bother me at all. I know I'm clean," said basketball 
and track athlete Andrea Franklin, 16.

Teammate Lauren Fleming, 16, said drugs are easy to find. "It's high 
school," she said.

But known drug users on sports teams are harder to come by. The only 
students who would be upset by the decision are probably the ones on drugs, 
the girls said.

"When it comes down to it, it might scare them out of doing it," Lauren 
said. Football players Andy May and Jacob Martin, both 17, said the 
decision is a natural extension of the philosophy among coaches.

"They don't want people to ruin their lives," Jacob said. Andy said Mr. 
Ford has made it clear that he has never taken a drink in his life. Mr. 
Ford acknowledged that wasn't quite true.

"I tried to swallow champagne one time, but I thought it tasted like 
gasoline," he said.

Mr. Ford said he believes in practicing what he preaches. Andy's mother, 
Kimberly May, said the district's coaches have acted as father figures to 
each of her three sons.

"They fear their coaches more than they fear me," she said. Athletes who 
get busted at beer parties, for example, are forced to put in 20 miles of 
running before participating again.

"In Celina, the coaches sit on them pretty good," Ms. May said. She said 
she is seeing the influx of newcomers to the city and believes the testing 
is a good way to "stop a problem before it starts." But Ms. May doesn't 
think the athletes are the students who need to be singled out for testing.

"The majority of the students in this area that are into drugs are not the 
athletes," she said.

. Celina has about 350 athletes in grades seven through 12. They will be 
tested at the beginning of the next school year for the presence of alcohol 
and drugs. . Random testing will be done throughout the school year. 
Students who are suspected of using drugs may be tested again.

. Parental consent for testing will be required for participation in the 
athletic program.

. First offense: The student will meet with the athletic director, the drug 
testing administrator and boys' or girls' coordinator. The student will be 
required to complete a drug education program. He or she can practice but 
can't compete until requirements are fulfilled. Must pass drug test. . 
Second offense: Besides the above requirements, the student will be 
suspended from the team for 30 days and must pass a test before playing. . 
Third offense: Above requirements plus suspension from the team for 90 
days. Staff writers Eric Aasen, Herb Booth, Kristen Holland, Kristine 
Hughes, Bill Lodge, Jeff Mosier, Lori Price and Toya Lynn Stewart 
contributed to this report.
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